Drug Abuse

Drugs affect more than just the person taking them. When a person is under the influence of illegal drugs, they also heavily impact that persons family. I have known this for quite a while, and after watching this video my thoughts have been further confirmed. A drug user's family suffers as more money is spent on drugs instead of food, as well as more time is devoted to drugs rather than their children. No good can come for a child of a drug user. Along with the direct actions to the child, are the long term affects. A child of a drug user will not function as well as they could in school. The abuse they receive at home will transfer to school and will appear in their demeanor, appearance, social life, and behavior. Drugs only have the ability to ruin a person's life and often enough drugs ruin an entire family.

Poverty and homelessness are serious problems for youth in America.

With poverty and homelessness there are innumerable problems that children face. There is the possibility that not only are children forced to move around from shelter to shelter, but also school to school. This coupled with a lack of nutrition leads to a life that would be very difficult for adults, let alone children, to live. In the case of poverty there is also a good chance that the parents are also working at least one job full time, so they will not spend much time at home. Because the parents are not at home the children are forced to grow up much sooner than they should be and may feel obligated to look after the family themselves.

Children are being subjected to the harshness of reality much to soon, which in turn has a negative effect on their schoolwork. In order to combat this as a teacher I would make sure that my students are aware of any programs the school has to offer in regards to free breakfast and/or reduced/free lunch. Also I would find information on organizations in the community that could provide some form of assistance to their families. I would also make myself available after school to help any student that wanted help on their assignments. It may also be possible to incorporate a lesson on poverty into the classroom. What is more important however is simply to be there for the children.